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1 Minute Read

The Top 10 Driving Songs

Posted by - Tim Earnshaw on 23 July 2021 (Updated 6 July 2021)
Categories: Advice, Road Trip Inspiration

Here at Windrush, we’re firm believers in long term car storage done right. But to borrow a line from Steppenwolf’s 1968 anthem, Born To Be Wild, there’s also a time to get your motor running and head out on the highway – preferably with our ultimate driving playlist on the speakers. From slow-burn anthems for the scenic route, to hard rockers sure to put points on your licence, here are ten classics chosen by our prestige car storage team.

Bruce Springsteen

Born To Run (1975)

Springsteen had never been more eloquent than on this ode to small-town dreamers seeking a better life – but the genius of Born To Run is how the Boss captures that wide-eyed escapism in the music. From the opening drum roll to the eternally optimistic guitar riff, it’s hard to imagine a song with greater momentum.

Hear it

The Killers

Mr Brightside (2003)

Research suggests the debut single from the Las Vegas dandies has featured on more driving-themed Spotify playlists than any other song – and you can see why. Guitarist Dave Keuning’s tingling riff puts the magic in the air – but it’s the moment when the bass drops in that turns your right foot into a brick.

Hear it

The Killers

Fleetwood Mac

Go Your Own Way (1976)

Lindsey Buckingham was crawling from the wreckage of his relationship with bandmate Stevie Nicks when he wrote this escapist classic from 1977’s Rumours. With its wide-open highway of a chorus, it’s the perfect soundtrack for turning the key and gunning it to the horizon in search of redemption.

Hear it

Gary Numan

Cars (1979)

Despite being released in 1979, the synth king’s icy signature tune still feels like it’s been beamed from the future: the kind of thing that Harrison Ford might have on the car stereo while hunting replicants in Blade Runner.

Hear it

Gary Numan

Pink Floyd

Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V) (1975)

Written in salute to the Floyd’s unravelling former bandleader Syd Barrett, prog’s ultimate slow-burner demands your total focus for a full 14 minutes. As such, it’s perfect for ghosting through a mist-shrouded Lake District landscape at sunrise, not the bumper-to-bumper of the M25 at rush hour.

Hear it

Daft Punk

Get Lucky (2013)

Every driving playlist needs one top-down moment, and it falls to the robot-headed Frenchmen (with a little help from Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers). From the clickety-clack funk guitar to the instant-classic chorus, it’s a song to be enjoyed with roof off and sunglasses on, preferably while cruising Miami’s Ocean Drive.

Hear it

Daft Punk

Antonio Vivaldi

The Four Seasons (1725)

It might feel like the sort of thing that Hannibal Lecter would put on a car playlist, but match the great Italian composer’s immortal four-part violin concerto with the right landscape and you’ll feel like you’re driving on air.

Hear it

Led Zeppelin

Ramble On (1969)

For the first minute, this highlight from Led Zeppelin II fools you into thinking it’s a blissed-out, barefooted folk strummer. Then Jimmy Page’s riff comes crashing in, Robert Plant yelps the chorus hook like a scalded banshee and the fast lane becomes irresistible.

Hear it

Led Zeppelin

Hans Zimmer

You’re So Cool (1993)

The song title might be unfamiliar, but you’ll immediately recognise that addictive xylophone hook from not one but two classic road movies, with Carl Orff’s original version, Gassenhauer, featured in 1973’s Badlands, and Zimmer’s updated cover plink-plonking throughout 1993’s True Romance.

Hear it

Blue Öyster Cult

(Don’t Fear) The Reaper (1976)

Like the theme to the greatest road movie never made, Donald Roeser’s hypnotic guitar riff evokes vast, unknowable, tumbleweed-blown American plains. Even when you play it on Wandsworth High Street.

Hear it

Blue Öyster Cult

Classic car storage that always hits the right note

Your car was born to run – but be sure to come home to the best prestige car storage in the business. Windrush’s long term car storage offers state-of-the-art facilities in London and the Cotswolds, including climate control, individual bays and an internal rolling road. But at the heart of our prestige car storage service is the human touch, with friendly experts guiding your vehicle through our famous twelve-step induction process, and overseeing an ongoing maintenance programme that helps your car hold its value for longer.

For more information on Windrush’s long term car storage, get in touch on info@windrushcarstorage.co.uk

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3 Minute Read

5 Ways To Enjoy Your Supercar

Read Article
If you are lucky enough to own a supercar, we encourage you to make sure you extract maximum…
Read Article
If you are lucky enough to own a supercar, we encourage you to make sure you extract maximum excitement from your investment. From track days to supercar storage, here are five ways to make living the supercar dream even sweeter. Join An Owners Club Owning a supercar should be sociable, not a twilight existence of solitary polishing – so find out what owners clubs are out there for your marque and model. Famously friendly, an owners club will welcome you into a community of like-minded folks, who all share your obsession. Clubs can advise on the best specialists, recommend upgrades and suggest motoring events you never even knew existed, you’ll wonder how you managed without them.         Try A Track Day There comes a time in the life of every supercar owner when they realise they’ve never actually got close to realising their cars potential. To unclip your supercar’s leash in style, why not book a track day? From Silverstone to Goodwood, the nation’s most fabled racetracks are at your fingertips for as little as £99, letting you put all the technical engineering to the ultimate test, in a safe environment…with no lampposts. Book Professional Driving Tuition There’s no shame in admitting your supercar is more capable than you, but drivers can awaken their inner Lewis Hamilton with a high-performance driving lesson. Don’t come expecting to brush up on parallel parking: this sort of dynamic driver training typically takes place at a proving ground where speed is no object, placing you in the hands of a hardened coach who’ll tear apart your bad habits then rebuild you as a driver worthy of the marque. By the end, you won’t just drive the Lamborghini. You will be the Lamborghini… Take A Road Trip Every time you use it your car for a cruise down the High Street, your Ferrari dies a little inside. Supercars were born to eat tarmac, so treat yours to the best roads in the world. From the isolated majesty of Snowdonia’s, A-roads to the heaven-scraping heights of Austria’s Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, there’s a whole world out there to roam at high speed – and of course, friends at your owners club will know every hairpin and drinking hole along the way. Choose Professional Supercar Storage We’ve covered the instant gratification of supercar ownership. But when it comes to enjoying your dream machine in the long-term, the best advice of all is to treat it to professional supercar storage. With car theft rising during lockdown and incorrect storage jeopardising everything from paintwork to mechanics, it’s vital to find a supercar storage facility that understands what your model needs to stay in optimum working order. At Windrush, we’re proud to offer the complete supercar storage solution. Following a thorough twelve-step induction, we’ll settle your supercar in a dehumidified, climate-controlled indoor storage bay, maintained with 24/7 security, twice-daily checks and weekly battery and drip tray inspections. Plus, every 60 days, we’ll give your supercar an expert maintenance checkover and run it up to temperature on our internal rolling road. Whether you’re based in the countryside, or need London supercar storage, your pride and joy couldn’t be in safer hands. To discover how Windrush supercar storage can help, get in touch today.
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1 Minute Read

The Top 10 TV Cars

Read Article
From KITT to the A-Team van, Windrush’s classic car storage team counts down the small-screen icons that became…
Read Article
From KITT to the A-Team van, Windrush’s classic car storage team counts down the small-screen icons that became more famous than their drivers. If you assembled religiously for episodes of Knight Rider in 1983 – or recently bid for an A-Team van replica on eBay – then you’ll already know the lifelong spell that a great TV car can cast. Chosen by Windrush’s prestige car storage team, here are ten classics that have earned a place in popular culture. 1983 GMC Vandura – The A-Team With its unmistakable red slash and a medallion-draped Mr. T barking orders behind the wheel, the A-Team van was coveted by every autophile child of the ’80s. If you can’t afford to pick one up at auction (guide price: £60k), why not try building your own? 1969 Dodge Charger – The Dukes Of Hazzard With its satsuma finish, confederate flag and baffling lack of functional doors, the General Lee was the king of redneck rides, keeping the Duke boys one step ahead of Boss Hogg and inspiring a generation of British kids to hood-slide across their dad’s bonnet. Over 300 customised Chargers were used by the show – with one model typically written off per episode. 1975 Ford Gran Torino – Starsky & Hutch Starsky actor Paul Michael Glaser didn’t think much of the cop car he would be driving when it was first presented to him by producer Aaron Spelling (“That thing looks like a striped tomato!”). But it’s impossible to imagine the show without this V8-powered icon running down the bad guys. Watch it in action against the General Lee here. 1978 Ferrari 308GTS – Magnum, P.I As Hawaii’s bushiest-moustached private dick, Thomas Magnum only drove the best. Across eight series, Tom Selleck commandeered such automobile eye candy as a 1980 Audi 100 and a 1974 Jaguar XJ. But as the star of the opening credits, the GTS was the pick – and a 1984 example certified to have been driven by Selleck himself went under the hammer in 2017 for £128k. 1982 Pontiac Trans Am – Knight Rider Announced by the ghostly swoosh of its scanner bar, and tooled up with tear gas, flame throwers and grappling hooks, KITT’s most memorable feature was its slightly condescending proto-AI personality, with voice actor William Daniels keeping the Hoff’s bouffant crime fighter on the straight and narrow. 1977 2.0 Capri – Minder As TV’s archetypal geezer, Dennis Waterman’s Terry McCann needed a motor that was suitably urban, gritty and rough round the edges, with Ford’s fastback ticking all the boxes. Long-standing fans looked on jealously as the Capri sold at auction for £52,000 in 2016 – and felt a lump in their throats last year with the bombshell that it had been “burnt to a crisp” in a heatwave. There’s probably never been a better advert for long term car storage. 1981 Audi UR Quattro – Ashes to Ashes Set a decade earlier, Life On Mars had caught the ’70s zeitgeist in the bottle with a Ford Cortina, and as a highlight of sequel Ashes To Ashes, DCI Gene Hunt’s hot-red Audi couldn’t have been more unashamedly ’80s if it came with a housebrick-sized mobile phone. Altogether now: ‘Fire up the Quattro! 1962 Volvo P1800 – The Saint After Jaguar refused the use of its E-Type, Roger Moore’s suave sleuth took the wheel of this ice-white roadster (and loved it so much that he bought one for himself). A generation wept when the original P1800 was found rotting in Wales in 1991 – until enthusiast Kevin Price restored the model to its ’60s glory. 1976 Broadspeed Jaguar V12 Coupe – The Avengers As a quintessentially British gentleman spy, John Steed would never have driven anything as vulgar as a sports car. Across the hit show’s lifespan, the late Patrick Macnee’s character dabbled with Bentleys and Rollers, but it will always be the Jaguar he’s most closely associated with – hence the £62,000 the vehicle fetched at auction back in 2015. 1986 Ferrari Testarossa – Miami Vice Played by Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, Crockett and Tubbs were the undercover cops who made a generation roll up their jacket sleeves. Key to the image was the Testarossa: the ultimate ’80s dream machine, as pure white as the marching powder the duo spent the show in pursuit of. Prestige car storage for your star car Whatever you drive, at Windrush, we’ll treat your car like an A-lister. Our classic car storage solution is all about attention to detail, from our twelve-step induction to an ongoing programme that includes 24/7 security, twice-daily checks and weekly battery and drip tray inspections. Plus, for our long term car storage customers, we’ll perform a deep maintenance checkover every 60 days – so your car will always be ready for its close-up. To learn more about Windrush’s long term car storage in London and the Cotswolds, get in touch with the team today
the-10-best-bentley-bruisers-main-original.jpeg?w=1024&h=577&scale
1 Minute Read

The 10 Best Bentley Bruisers

Read Article
As the Windrush team welcomes the new Bentley Continental W12 to our prestige car storage, we look back…
Read Article
As the Windrush team welcomes the new Bentley Continental W12 to our prestige car storage, we look back at the British builder’s biggest hit. There’s something about a Bentley. Whenever one of the British marque’s models rolls into Windrush’s prestige car storage, heads turn and tools are downed. It’s the shape: muscular and full-bodied, without being brutish or boxy. It’s the all-pervading air of class, with luxury and sophistication factored in right from the drawing board. But it’s also the sense that beneath that refined British exterior beats the heart of a race-winning beast. Posting 650hp and 208mph, the new Continental GT W12 has been dubbed by some as the last of the Bentley muscle cars – and it’s been the Windrush team’s pleasure to welcome this latest model to our long term car storage in London and the Cotswolds. But what are the all-time-best Bentley bruisers? Bentley 3 Litre Right from the start, Bentley embodied the ‘big is best’ ethos, with this 1921 behemoth dwarfing the Bugattis that ruled the circuits of the era. Fortunately, much of that extra bulk was down to the monster engine – and after the car won Le Mans twice in the decade, nobody questioned its dimensions again. Bentley Blower On paper, you could call the Blower a glorious failure: it never won Le Mans, was loathed by W.O. Bentley himself (and given the distinctly backhanded compliment of being “the world’s fastest lorry” by Ettore Bugatti). Yet the image of Sir Henry Birkin behind the wheel with scarf aflutter is utterly indelible, and anyone lucky enough to drive a Blower has fallen in love (“It feels more like a vintage biplane than a car,” said Autocar’s Andrew Frankel). Bentley 8 Litre In glorious denial of the Great Depression, Bentley spared no expense with this large-bodied, straight-six 1930 stunner, whose aspirational vibe was helped along by the fact that only 100 examples were ever made. Sadly, it was a case of ‘right car, wrong time’: the financial straits of the era meant the 8 Litre sold poorly and left Bentley’s finances in ruins (although the car has made a strong comeback on the modern market). Bentley Blue Train Worthy of inclusion for the folklore alone: Bentley’s best driver, Sir Woolf Barnarto, wanted to see if he could drive a Speed Six saloon (by H.J. Mulliner) from Cannes to England in the same time it took the then-mighty Blue Train Express to get from Cannes to Calais. He made it, and the car would never be forgotten. Bentley Turbo R Launched in 1985 – and seen by many as a return to form for the marque – the Turbo R saw Bentley’s path diverge from that of owner Rolls-Royce (then making some of the most serene models in its history). Armed to the teeth with a fuel-injected V8, enormous tyres and audacious (albeit unofficial) power figures of 296hp, it was, in the best possible way, a thug in a suit. Bentley Continental T First produced in 1996 as a cousin of the Continental R – but with more athletic dimensions and an engine upgraded to 400bhp – the T walked the perfect tightrope between luxury and aggression. Classy touches abounded, from the milled dashboard to the straight-grain mahogany waistrails, but with 590lb/ft torque and a top speed of 155mph, this coupé devoured the road. Bentley Arnage T Bentley hadn’t released a truly original design since 1980 before the Arnage rolled off the Crewe production line in 1998, with this new series named after the notorious right-angle corner at Le Mans. The ‘T’ incarnation was the best, with its 6.75 engine and 500hp exemplifying go-faster British luxury. Bentley Brooklands ‘Is the Brooklands the most collectable modern Bentley?’ wondered the Classic Driver website. Probably, yes. With only 550 hand-built examples ever made, anyone lucky enough to acquire Bentley’s ultra-rare sporting coupé should guard it with their life. Although, given the 6.75-litre twin-turbo V8 and 530hp, treating the Brooklands with kid gloves will take serious willpower. Bentley Continental GT Speed Unveiled in 2007, Bentley planted its flag in the post-millennium with this first wave of the modern Speed models. The aerodynamic looks belied a meaty 2350kg, but the Speed lived up to the billing with a pacy 0-60 figure of 4.3 seconds and a top velocity of 198mph, courtesy of the 6.0-litre W12 engine. Bentley Bentayga W12 Rewind to 2018, and few expected Rhys Millen’s showroom-spec Bentayga to threaten the 12-minute record held by Land Rover’s Range Rover Sport in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Ten minutes and 49 seconds later, his W12 was at the summit in Colorado – and Bentley’s contemporary status as a builder of cars for drivers was beyond doubt. Prestige car storage, for Bentley boys and beyond At Windrush, we’re always ready to give your Bentley the best home – but our classic car storage welcomes every marque and model in the book. This is prestige car storage taken to the next level, flowing from our twelve-step induction to a proactive storage service that takes in 24/7 security, twice-daily checks, plus battery and drip tray inspections each week. And when you choose our long term car storage, we’ll keep your vehicle in a constant ready-to-roll state, with an expert maintenance checkover every 60 days. For long term car storage in London and the Cotswolds, Windrush is the only choice. Get in touch with the team today and discover what we can do for you.
  • 5-ways-to-enjoy-your-supercar-main-original-1.jpg?w=1024&h=682&scale
    3 Minute Read

    5 Ways To Enjoy Your Supercar

    Read Article
    If you are lucky enough to own a supercar, we encourage you to make sure you extract maximum excitement from your investment. From track days to supercar storage, here are five ways to make living the supercar dream even sweeter. Join An Owners Club Owning a supercar should be sociable, not a twilight existence of solitary polishing – so find out what owners clubs are out there for your marque and model. Famously friendly, an owners club will welcome you into a community of like-minded folks, who all share your obsession. Clubs can advise on the best specialists, recommend upgrades and suggest motoring events you never even knew existed, you’ll wonder how you managed without them.         Try A Track Day There comes a time in the life of every supercar owner when they realise they’ve never actually got close to realising their cars potential. To unclip your supercar’s leash in style, why not book a track day? From Silverstone to Goodwood, the nation’s most fabled racetracks are at your fingertips for as little as £99, letting you put all the technical engineering to the ultimate test, in a safe environment…with no lampposts. Book Professional Driving Tuition There’s no shame in admitting your supercar is more capable than you, but drivers can awaken their inner Lewis Hamilton with a high-performance driving lesson. Don’t come expecting to brush up on parallel parking: this sort of dynamic driver training typically takes place at a proving ground where speed is no object, placing you in the hands of a hardened coach who’ll tear apart your bad habits then rebuild you as a driver worthy of the marque. By the end, you won’t just drive the Lamborghini. You will be the Lamborghini… Take A Road Trip Every time you use it your car for a cruise down the High Street, your Ferrari dies a little inside. Supercars were born to eat tarmac, so treat yours to the best roads in the world. From the isolated majesty of Snowdonia’s, A-roads to the heaven-scraping heights of Austria’s Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, there’s a whole world out there to roam at high speed – and of course, friends at your owners club will know every hairpin and drinking hole along the way. Choose Professional Supercar Storage We’ve covered the instant gratification of supercar ownership. But when it comes to enjoying your dream machine in the long-term, the best advice of all is to treat it to professional supercar storage. With car theft rising during lockdown and incorrect storage jeopardising everything from paintwork to mechanics, it’s vital to find a supercar storage facility that understands what your model needs to stay in optimum working order. At Windrush, we’re proud to offer the complete supercar storage solution. Following a thorough twelve-step induction, we’ll settle your supercar in a dehumidified, climate-controlled indoor storage bay, maintained with 24/7 security, twice-daily checks and weekly battery and drip tray inspections. Plus, every 60 days, we’ll give your supercar an expert maintenance checkover and run it up to temperature on our internal rolling road. Whether you’re based in the countryside, or need London supercar storage, your pride and joy couldn’t be in safer hands. To discover how Windrush supercar storage can help, get in touch today.
  • the-top-10-tv-cars-main-original-1.jpeg?w=1024&h=576&scale
    1 Minute Read

    The Top 10 TV Cars

    Read Article
    From KITT to the A-Team van, Windrush’s classic car storage team counts down the small-screen icons that became more famous than their drivers. If you assembled religiously for episodes of Knight Rider in 1983 – or recently bid for an A-Team van replica on eBay – then you’ll already know the lifelong spell that a great TV car can cast. Chosen by Windrush’s prestige car storage team, here are ten classics that have earned a place in popular culture. 1983 GMC Vandura – The A-Team With its unmistakable red slash and a medallion-draped Mr. T barking orders behind the wheel, the A-Team van was coveted by every autophile child of the ’80s. If you can’t afford to pick one up at auction (guide price: £60k), why not try building your own? 1969 Dodge Charger – The Dukes Of Hazzard With its satsuma finish, confederate flag and baffling lack of functional doors, the General Lee was the king of redneck rides, keeping the Duke boys one step ahead of Boss Hogg and inspiring a generation of British kids to hood-slide across their dad’s bonnet. Over 300 customised Chargers were used by the show – with one model typically written off per episode. 1975 Ford Gran Torino – Starsky & Hutch Starsky actor Paul Michael Glaser didn’t think much of the cop car he would be driving when it was first presented to him by producer Aaron Spelling (“That thing looks like a striped tomato!”). But it’s impossible to imagine the show without this V8-powered icon running down the bad guys. Watch it in action against the General Lee here. 1978 Ferrari 308GTS – Magnum, P.I As Hawaii’s bushiest-moustached private dick, Thomas Magnum only drove the best. Across eight series, Tom Selleck commandeered such automobile eye candy as a 1980 Audi 100 and a 1974 Jaguar XJ. But as the star of the opening credits, the GTS was the pick – and a 1984 example certified to have been driven by Selleck himself went under the hammer in 2017 for £128k. 1982 Pontiac Trans Am – Knight Rider Announced by the ghostly swoosh of its scanner bar, and tooled up with tear gas, flame throwers and grappling hooks, KITT’s most memorable feature was its slightly condescending proto-AI personality, with voice actor William Daniels keeping the Hoff’s bouffant crime fighter on the straight and narrow. 1977 2.0 Capri – Minder As TV’s archetypal geezer, Dennis Waterman’s Terry McCann needed a motor that was suitably urban, gritty and rough round the edges, with Ford’s fastback ticking all the boxes. Long-standing fans looked on jealously as the Capri sold at auction for £52,000 in 2016 – and felt a lump in their throats last year with the bombshell that it had been “burnt to a crisp” in a heatwave. There’s probably never been a better advert for long term car storage. 1981 Audi UR Quattro – Ashes to Ashes Set a decade earlier, Life On Mars had caught the ’70s zeitgeist in the bottle with a Ford Cortina, and as a highlight of sequel Ashes To Ashes, DCI Gene Hunt’s hot-red Audi couldn’t have been more unashamedly ’80s if it came with a housebrick-sized mobile phone. Altogether now: ‘Fire up the Quattro! 1962 Volvo P1800 – The Saint After Jaguar refused the use of its E-Type, Roger Moore’s suave sleuth took the wheel of this ice-white roadster (and loved it so much that he bought one for himself). A generation wept when the original P1800 was found rotting in Wales in 1991 – until enthusiast Kevin Price restored the model to its ’60s glory. 1976 Broadspeed Jaguar V12 Coupe – The Avengers As a quintessentially British gentleman spy, John Steed would never have driven anything as vulgar as a sports car. Across the hit show’s lifespan, the late Patrick Macnee’s character dabbled with Bentleys and Rollers, but it will always be the Jaguar he’s most closely associated with – hence the £62,000 the vehicle fetched at auction back in 2015. 1986 Ferrari Testarossa – Miami Vice Played by Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, Crockett and Tubbs were the undercover cops who made a generation roll up their jacket sleeves. Key to the image was the Testarossa: the ultimate ’80s dream machine, as pure white as the marching powder the duo spent the show in pursuit of. Prestige car storage for your star car Whatever you drive, at Windrush, we’ll treat your car like an A-lister. Our classic car storage solution is all about attention to detail, from our twelve-step induction to an ongoing programme that includes 24/7 security, twice-daily checks and weekly battery and drip tray inspections. Plus, for our long term car storage customers, we’ll perform a deep maintenance checkover every 60 days – so your car will always be ready for its close-up. To learn more about Windrush’s long term car storage in London and the Cotswolds, get in touch with the team today
  • the-10-best-bentley-bruisers-main-original.jpeg?w=1024&h=577&scale
    1 Minute Read

    The 10 Best Bentley Bruisers

    Read Article
    As the Windrush team welcomes the new Bentley Continental W12 to our prestige car storage, we look back at the British builder’s biggest hit. There’s something about a Bentley. Whenever one of the British marque’s models rolls into Windrush’s prestige car storage, heads turn and tools are downed. It’s the shape: muscular and full-bodied, without being brutish or boxy. It’s the all-pervading air of class, with luxury and sophistication factored in right from the drawing board. But it’s also the sense that beneath that refined British exterior beats the heart of a race-winning beast. Posting 650hp and 208mph, the new Continental GT W12 has been dubbed by some as the last of the Bentley muscle cars – and it’s been the Windrush team’s pleasure to welcome this latest model to our long term car storage in London and the Cotswolds. But what are the all-time-best Bentley bruisers? Bentley 3 Litre Right from the start, Bentley embodied the ‘big is best’ ethos, with this 1921 behemoth dwarfing the Bugattis that ruled the circuits of the era. Fortunately, much of that extra bulk was down to the monster engine – and after the car won Le Mans twice in the decade, nobody questioned its dimensions again. Bentley Blower On paper, you could call the Blower a glorious failure: it never won Le Mans, was loathed by W.O. Bentley himself (and given the distinctly backhanded compliment of being “the world’s fastest lorry” by Ettore Bugatti). Yet the image of Sir Henry Birkin behind the wheel with scarf aflutter is utterly indelible, and anyone lucky enough to drive a Blower has fallen in love (“It feels more like a vintage biplane than a car,” said Autocar’s Andrew Frankel). Bentley 8 Litre In glorious denial of the Great Depression, Bentley spared no expense with this large-bodied, straight-six 1930 stunner, whose aspirational vibe was helped along by the fact that only 100 examples were ever made. Sadly, it was a case of ‘right car, wrong time’: the financial straits of the era meant the 8 Litre sold poorly and left Bentley’s finances in ruins (although the car has made a strong comeback on the modern market). Bentley Blue Train Worthy of inclusion for the folklore alone: Bentley’s best driver, Sir Woolf Barnarto, wanted to see if he could drive a Speed Six saloon (by H.J. Mulliner) from Cannes to England in the same time it took the then-mighty Blue Train Express to get from Cannes to Calais. He made it, and the car would never be forgotten. Bentley Turbo R Launched in 1985 – and seen by many as a return to form for the marque – the Turbo R saw Bentley’s path diverge from that of owner Rolls-Royce (then making some of the most serene models in its history). Armed to the teeth with a fuel-injected V8, enormous tyres and audacious (albeit unofficial) power figures of 296hp, it was, in the best possible way, a thug in a suit. Bentley Continental T First produced in 1996 as a cousin of the Continental R – but with more athletic dimensions and an engine upgraded to 400bhp – the T walked the perfect tightrope between luxury and aggression. Classy touches abounded, from the milled dashboard to the straight-grain mahogany waistrails, but with 590lb/ft torque and a top speed of 155mph, this coupé devoured the road. Bentley Arnage T Bentley hadn’t released a truly original design since 1980 before the Arnage rolled off the Crewe production line in 1998, with this new series named after the notorious right-angle corner at Le Mans. The ‘T’ incarnation was the best, with its 6.75 engine and 500hp exemplifying go-faster British luxury. Bentley Brooklands ‘Is the Brooklands the most collectable modern Bentley?’ wondered the Classic Driver website. Probably, yes. With only 550 hand-built examples ever made, anyone lucky enough to acquire Bentley’s ultra-rare sporting coupé should guard it with their life. Although, given the 6.75-litre twin-turbo V8 and 530hp, treating the Brooklands with kid gloves will take serious willpower. Bentley Continental GT Speed Unveiled in 2007, Bentley planted its flag in the post-millennium with this first wave of the modern Speed models. The aerodynamic looks belied a meaty 2350kg, but the Speed lived up to the billing with a pacy 0-60 figure of 4.3 seconds and a top velocity of 198mph, courtesy of the 6.0-litre W12 engine. Bentley Bentayga W12 Rewind to 2018, and few expected Rhys Millen’s showroom-spec Bentayga to threaten the 12-minute record held by Land Rover’s Range Rover Sport in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Ten minutes and 49 seconds later, his W12 was at the summit in Colorado – and Bentley’s contemporary status as a builder of cars for drivers was beyond doubt. Prestige car storage, for Bentley boys and beyond At Windrush, we’re always ready to give your Bentley the best home – but our classic car storage welcomes every marque and model in the book. This is prestige car storage taken to the next level, flowing from our twelve-step induction to a proactive storage service that takes in 24/7 security, twice-daily checks, plus battery and drip tray inspections each week. And when you choose our long term car storage, we’ll keep your vehicle in a constant ready-to-roll state, with an expert maintenance checkover every 60 days. For long term car storage in London and the Cotswolds, Windrush is the only choice. Get in touch with the team today and discover what we can do for you.
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